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Cowell won’t run for state treasurer

RALEIGH — North Carolina State Treasurer Janet Cowell announced Tuesday she won’t run for re-election in 2016, changing her mind after affirming earlier this year she would seek a third term despite Democratic overtures for her to run for U.S. Senate.

In an email announcement to supporters, Cowell also said she wouldn’t seek any elected office next year. The decision creates an open seat on the Council of State in the November 2016 election.

Cowell, 47, is a former Raleigh city council member and state senator who became treasurer after winning the 2008 election to succeed Democrat Richard Moore. She is the first woman to hold the position and will serve out the four-year term.

As treasurer, Cowell has the sole financial responsibility for the state’s pension fund assets, which reached $90 billion as of June, compared to $60 billion when she took the job in the depths of the Great Recession. The retirement system continues to be among the strongest in the country. The state also has retained its top bond rating.

“I feel confident that the Department of State Treasurer is much stronger today than it was in 2009,” Cowell wrote, giving no clues to her next steps. “Public service, both in or out of elective office, will continue to be a part of my life. I look forward to the next adventure.”

Cowell was traveling this week and not available for comment, her spokespeople said. Her “message to supporters reflects all she has to say at this time,” spokesman Schorr Johnson said.

Cowell, a Wharton business school graduate who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, has been considered a rising political face in North Carolina Democratic politics, in part due to her ability to win statewide races while Republican power grew in North Carolina. She was frequently praised by Republican legislative leaders. The General Assembly tasked her in 2011 with taking over the health insurance program for state employees, teachers and their retirees.

Not seeking re-election “has been one of the more difficult decisions in my life,” she said. Cowell added that she made the decision after lots of careful deliberation and prayer.

Cowell had been considered a potential candidate to run against Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, but she shunned the idea in public statements and had said as early as April that she was planning another run for treasurer.

“I am flattered to be mentioned as a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate,” Cowell said in June.